You have a same-sex family, Adele and Kim in your centre who have a 4-year-old, Thomas, and a 1-year-old Lillian. Adele comes to you to state that their four-year-old had come home crying that another child, Rex, had told Thomas that you cannot have two mothers because his mother (Rex's) had said so. Drawing on literature: 

a) Explain why this is an issue that needs to be addressed by you as an early childhood professional 

b) Outline how you would respond to Adele immediately to address this issue 

c) Explain how you would follow up to address this issue within your service